From the deeply troubling performance pieces of Yugoslavian-born artist Marina Abramovic (she flagellates herself in a still from November 14, 2005, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York) to the photo-like portraits of Chinese painter Zhang Xiaogang (whose Little Graduate captures the anxiety of life in a strictly regimented society), this book surveys some of the most significant artists of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The authors emphasize both the individualism of modern artists, who eschew the manifestos and visionary movements of artists a hundred years ago, and also the tendency of today's artists to express their ideas in a variety of media.